Monday, December 18, 2017

What did Donald Trump do today?

He blamed a train accident on underfunding of infrastructure he wants to cut funding from.

This morning, an Amtrak train derailed near Seattle, killing at least three people and sending dozens more to the hospital. Trump immediately seized on the incident as an opportunity to promote himself, tweeting his claim that the accident showed the need to support his infrastructure plan.

No such plan exists yet, at least not in any form the public has been allowed to see, but Trump has submitted a budget. In it, he proposed to cut $928 million from transit construction grants and $630 million from Amtrak's budget.

Why does this matter?

You are either for spending money on infrastructure or you aren't.

What you actually budget money for is a pretty good indication of where your priorities lie.